Disinfo Wars

Disinfo Wars: Alex Jones’ War on Your Mind

by Nolan Higdon

Project Censored,

16 September, 2013

IIn 1833, William Miller predicted the second coming of Jesus Christ in the year 1843. Only after his fourth failed prediction, each of which saw hundreds of thousands of followers turn out, did his followers abandon him. By this time, Miller had already absconded with copious amounts of their money, spent on his publications and for ascension robes that were supposed to prepare them for Jesus Christ’s arrival.1 A profiteer relying on distortion and unfulfilled predictions, contemporary radio personality and activist Alex Jones operates in the same mode as Miller. Instead of ascension robes, Jones profits from the fear and uncertainty he relentlessly peddles via DVDs, publications, books, a TV show, a radio show, and websites.

Jones is recognized as a spearheading figure of anti-establishment reporting for many Google-searching-truth-seekers. Jones’s work includes an abundance of unfulfilled predictions that often rely on distorted and unproven claims. Despite his many predictions going unfulfilled, Jones and his claims increasingly appear in the corporate press as major media outlets rely on Internet sources for news content. As a result, the works of Alex Jones have broken into the so-called mainstream.2 This creates a serious problem for investigative journalists and scholars who focus on controversial subjects. Jones’ self-promotional, unfulfilled predictions and his speculative writings and reports can take away from other legitimate, fact-based researchers who investigate similar topics by shifting the focus from the relevant facts of the particular topic to his unverified and often sensational claims. The result is that those inclined to believe the so-called mainstream media disassociate themselves with some political movements and topics because Jones’ and his speculative reports become the face of said particular movements and topics. Jones’ ability and pattern of delegitimizing controversial, yet evidence-based contingents of so-called truth movements through radicalization and guilt by association, is eerily analogous to the blueprints of various US Government programs– most notably COINTELPRO from the 1960s and ‘70s. More recently, this has also been the case regarding establishment efforts to discredit the Occupy Wall St. Movement.3 This article will explore the work of Alex Jones’ and the effects he has had on others who research similar controversial subjects, and how research into those very subjects comes to be viewed in the public once Jones is perceived as a spokesperson or figurehead.

 Who is Alex Jones and Why Does He Really Matter?

 Alex Jones began broadcasting in Austin, Texas in 1996 on The Alex Jones Show and is now syndicated on over 140 radio stations.4 Jones often focuses on government and elite conspiracies during his radio show and through the postings on his websites Prison Planet and Infowars.5 The taglines for Infowars and Prison Planet are “because there is a war for your mind” and “truth will set you free,” respectively.6 Together his websites garner 11.5 million visitors each month with over 28 million page views, making InfoWars.com “the 390th most popular website in the United States.”7

Jones capitalized on the events of Waco, Texas and the Oklahoma City Bombing to launch his career. Jones claims his interest in abuses by government began with the 1993 siege in Waco, Texas when agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) killed seventy-six people—known as the Branch Davidians—for illegally stockpiling weapons.8 Like many researchers, Jones believed the victims were murdered unnecessarily.9 Later, when Timothy McVeigh was put on trial for the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people, Jones agreed with commenters who concluded that McVeigh was not responsible for the attack.10 Jones used his interpretation of both events to launch his public persona through protests, a radio show, and a drive to rebuild the lives of Davidians.11 In 2000 Jones attempted to capitalize on his “political activism” by launching a failed bid for the Republican Party nomination in the Texas state representative race.12

Much of Jones’ work focuses on a global conspiracy orchestrated by an elite cabal. In Jones’ usage, “elite” functions vaguely to include everyone from President Barrack Obama to CNN personality Piers Morgan.13 Jeremy Stahl of Slate explained that Jones’ conspiracies typically contain a “hodgepodge of disparate banking, corporate, globalization, and military interests…working together to bring about a New World Order of centralized ‘globalist’ government.”14 In 2013, The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) which is a non-profit organization combating hate, intolerance, and discrimination, argued that Jones’ conspiracies focus on a “fiendish plot to control the world” by the elite.15 Jones echoed these claims explaining, “No one is safe, do you understand that? Pure evil is running wild everywhere at the highest levels.”16

Because Jones’ reporting is vast in focus and lacking in evidence, it can lead followers of the corporate (or mainstream) press to ignore the research done by others on similar controversial subjects. Jones’ claims range from those that may have factual evidence supporting them (which other researchers provide in far greater detail than Jones ever does) to the completely outlandish (i.e., factually unfounded). Freelance writer Dean Walker outlined the plethora of issues Jones covers: “Jones has accused the federal government of involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 attacks, said that the Branch Davidian cultists in Texas were purposely murdered by authorities, claimed that FEMA is secretly building concentration camps…”17 In 2010, Jones claimed that “The reason there are so many gay people now is because it’s a chemical warfare operation…I have the government documents where they said they’re going to encourage homosexuality with chemicals so people don’t have children.”18 In 2013, Jones claimed that a tornado in Oklahoma was not an act of nature, but a government made “weather weapon.”19

Various bloggers, reporters, and groups have criticized Jones for his conspiracies surrounding elites.20 RationalWiki.org, which offers criticism of the media, argued that Jones “never met a conspiracy theory he didn’t like.”21 Tim Hjersted from the community-powered learning library Films For Action argued that Infowars “appeals to a certain niche conspiracy audience, but beyond this niche, it is not of much use for reaching people ‘beyond the choir.’”22 In his 2010 book Wingnuts, John Avlon of Newsweek and The Daily Beast argued that “wingnuts” are “the professional partisans and unhinged activists, the hard-core haters and the paranoid conspiracy theorists.”23 They are fueled by the “self-segregated echo chamber of talk radio, television news, and the Internet.”24Avlon identified Jones as a wingnut,25 because Jones’ distorted claims are documented on websites like Alex Jones Debunked—which deconstructs and exposes videos of Jones false and distorted reporting.26

For his book Among The Truthers: A Journey Through America’s Growing Conspiracist Underground, Canadian editor and columnist Jonathan Kay interviewed Jones. Kay explained that, “Talking to Jones is exhausting. He spits out every sentence as if he were calling the police to report a crime in progress…” and relies on unverified Internet sources to back up his claims.27 Jones oft makes claims that US actions amount to false flag events. A false flag is when the government performs an attack on its own people to shore up support for their policies and agenda. Kay summarized the views of Jones: there is no difference between the major parties, all governments use false flags, and President John F. Kennedy was murdered for trying to dismantle the Federal Reserve.28 Kay accused Jones of falsifying history in the case of Lusitania-which after being bombed by the Germans led to the US involvement in World War I-by calling it a false flag. Kay argued that Jones falsifies history to get present day followers to feel that contemporary events are like the false flags of the past.29 It is not that there are not demonstrable false flags in history, it’s that Jones does a shoddy job of proving it where other scholars have dedicated their careers to discussion on such matters, and as a result of Jones’ sloppy fear-mongering, their work gets dismissed by many in the public once it becomes associated with Jones (see endnote 29 for further relevant remarks on Kay’s work).

Alex Jones’ Unfulfilled Prophesies: “I Can Feel It in My Bones”

Jones broadcasts false flag predictions almost daily. His broadcasts before 2010 began with the imperial march theme from Star Wars with a voice that explains “Big Brother, mainstream media, government cover-ups. You want answers? Well so does he. He’s Alex Jones…on the GCN Radio Network. And now, live from Austin, Texas…Alex Jones.”30 On his February 4, 2009 show he explained that “No doubt in my mind they are planning to stage an inaugural bombing in the next six to seven months, just like 911….” with the goal of improving Obama’s approval ratings.31 A week later he said the government would use a “biological attack” to kill majority of the population to garner support for martial law.32 Two weeks later he said “I am telling you right now, I’m sure of it, they are going to stage terror attacks soon…it’s going to be full on federal worship on TV.”33 On April 2, 2009 he named Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Cleveland, and or Denver as possible targets for a staged nuclear attack.34 In June 2009 he said “I would not be surprised if they stage some big terror attacks in the next sixty to ninety days….”35 In July 2009 he predicted multiple methods for a coming false flag including a nuclear attack, flu epidemic, world war, or “bankrupt everything by design.”36 None of these predictions proved to be true.

Instead of revisiting shortcomings of his previously unfulfilled predictions, Jones just invents new ones. On November 10, 2009, he said, “Now in the last three months I have been warning people that Obama’s controllers are going to be staging events.”37 This prediction ignored the prior failed predictions from February to September 2009, which claimed the same thing. However, instead of explaining why he ignored his previous failed predictions, Jones continued to make more predictions. On his February 16, 2010 show he noted that, “so they are gauging to stage an assassination on Obama to get his approval ratings up and I believe he is probably involved in it.”38 On March 29, 2010 he promised a “staged terror attacks in the next month.”39 None of these predictions proved true.

Similar to the unfilled prophecies regarding false flags, Jones replaces and ignores his unfulfilled economic predictions. In June 2008, he claimed the US dollar would drop by 90% in value by 2010.40 It did not, so in February 2010 he argued, “In the next sixteen months…they are going to bring in a new financial collapse, they are going to bring down at least 15 European nations.”41 That did not happen, either. On his February 9, 2009 show Jones supported his guest Lindsey Williams– the blog writing, ordained Baptist minister– who said, “9 to 12 months from now you are going to see a complete collapse of the US dollar.”42 When this did not happen, Jones continued to make further failed predictions. In May 2010, he said, “In the next two years they are going to devalue your currency by 50%.”43 In April of 2009, Jones claimed, “The government is going to take most everything you got.”44 In December 2010, he claimed that 60% of the pension funds are gone and they will all be gone “in a couple months.” He called anyone who did not believe him a “dumbass.”45 However, one might suggest it is Jones who looked like the “dumbass” because his prophecy again proved false.

Since he is not constrained by evidence, Jones goes beyond currency and false flag predictions, tying many conspiracy theories together—including those involving extraterrestrials. On his December 17, 2009 show he claimed that “whether aliens are real or not, the United Nations, another big Rothschild, the federal government, all these astronauts coming out, moonwalkers talking about flying saucers, they are getting people ready for extraterrestrial life to be announced, and I don’t know if it’s this month or five years from now…The mainstream media is legitimizing extraterrestrial life and is basically saying we are being visited and something is going on.”46 In fall of 2013, this remains yet another unfulfilled prediction from Jones.

The most celebrated of Jones’ predictions among his followers involved the events of 9/11. On September 11, 2001, it was reported that four US commercial airliners were hijacked and three crashed into buildings, killing almost three thousand people in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C.47 Weeks earlier on July 25, 2001 on his Infowars program, Jones asked listeners to “Call the White House and tell them we know the government is planning terrorism.” He said it will be someone like “bin Laden, who was a known CIA asset in the 80s, running the Mujahedeen War…is the boogeyman they need in this Orwellian phony system.”48 Despite using the phrase “like bin Laden” and not offering a date, Jones and his followers claim he predicted 9/11.49 Six weeks later Jones proclaimed, “I’ll tell you the bottom line…98 percent chance this was a government-orchestrated controlled bombing.” He also noted that it was part of an effort by elites to control the populace.50 Infowars still claims that “In July, 2001, Jones predicted the attacks of September 11, 2001…”51

However, all Jones did with his 9/11 prediction was exaggerate evidence of actual coming attacks and then without evidence claim that the government would be behind them. In 1999, former CIA consultant and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego Chalmers Johnson made the evidence-based case for an attack from Osama bin Laden on the US explaining that blowback– domestic foreign attacks resulting from US foreign policy– “was not yet at an end in the case of [Osama] bin Laden.”52 The government itself had numerous reports that bin Laden was determined to attack in the US in the year leading up to 9/11.53 There had been ongoing terrorist attacks against the US at the hands of bin Laden and others in the decade leading up to 9/11.54 Jones had access to most of this information and knew that the US experienced attacks abroad by bin Laden such as the USS Cole bombing in 1998.55 Then Jones claimed without evidence that the US government would be behind any future attack.

Jones similarly falsified evidence to support his predictions after the election of President Barrack Obama. After Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Jones claimed that, following orders from Obama, the US government was constructing large prisons out of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) camps for a massive crackdown against US citizens.56 Jones’s argument begins with a fact. FEMA was building emergency relief camps. Indeed, FEMA outlined the camps’ construction plans on its website.57 However, Jones went on to distort the camps’ purpose, arguing that they were intended for use as “rendition hubs” for some larger Obama conspiracy.58 Jones falsely employed the work of selected fact-based reports to fit his pre-determined conclusion of a global crackdown through FEMA. The Ashbury Park Press (APP) had been critical of conditions in one camp, noting that “it more closely resembles a prison camp” due to poor conditions.59 Infowars changed the language and narrative of the APP report in an article that explained the camp “more closely resembles a military concentration camp.”60 The phrase “concentration camp” is odd since a concentration camp does not allow people to come and go as they please. However, people were allowed to come and go from the Oceanport camp, as reported by the very APP article Infowars was citing.61

The foundations for Jones’ predictions are often self-admittedly not grounded in strong evidence. In January of 2009 he said a staged terror attack was coming because “I can feel it in my bones.”62 A week later he claimed that the body language of the federal government says a false flag is coming.63 He claimed an attack was coming in August 2009 because of Obama’s declining approval rating.64 His prediction of a government attack in March 2010 was based on CNN, FOX, CNBC, MSNBC, and HBO making anti-Tea Party documentaries.65 A week later he said a false flag was coming because “I can just feel it in my gut.”66 In 2009 he said “Look at how they bombed Madrid on 333, look at 777…they always do it on weird cryptic numbers because-not that we believe in it-it is them who believe in this weird Babylon mystery school.”67

Transmuting Collective Fears into Private Profits

 

Jones’ false reporting appears to be motivated by profit. On his December 31, 1999 radio show, Jones, with factless hyperbole, trumped up Y2K (the arrival of the year 2000) paranoia by predicting a global crackdown, but he argued that by listening to him you could “escape the globalist sneak attack plan.”68 He claimed that everyone should “gear up for clamping down on America.” He claimed that Russia, and soon the US, would be controlled by globalists through Y2K.69 He reported “Cash machines are failing in Britain,” “They are finding large amounts of explosives in France,” a war in Chechnya sees “hundreds of thousands dying,” the federal government “has set up a huge 50 million dollar command bunker hooked into all the FEMA boxes that can take over all the short wave broadcast and commercial AM and FM stations as well television broadcast stations,” “Police and military are on high alert running around looking for supposed boogiemen and terrorists under every rock,” “there are trains of military equipment moving into Austin,” “The airport will be used as a major, major facility for trouble makers or rioters here in Austin.”70 Jones’ reporting during Y2K, as evidenced here, was simply false.

Jones’ Y2K reporting buttressed fears among his audience, and in turn this benefited his advertisers. Jones claimed that an awful fate awaited the American people with the coming of Y2K. He claimed that nuclear plants had shutdown, a military takeover of the US was underway, and a brutal takeover of Russia had begun. The fear-mongering broadcast was only interrupted for commercial breaks to sell items needed to combat the false scenarios being reported. One commercial stated that “Time is getting shorter until Y2K, if you want to be sure your family and loved ones weather the potential Y2K storm of delays, shortages, or interruptions of services, then now is the time to stock up on emergency supplies at a Home Food Reserve.” Another commercial warned that a politically unstable Russia-which Jones had falsely been reporting on- would lead to a large ground war in the US and consumers should get supplies to protect themselves. Thus, Jones’ false reporting created a market for his advertisers.71 Businesses selling security related items continue to fund Jones’ program through advertisement as he fuels the fear that most certainly increases their profit.72

In the years following the Y2K broadcast Jones began to use his reporting for self-profit. He sold a DVD about his break-in to Bohemian Grove in Northern California. Jones snuck in during the annual retreat of highly influential attendees, which includes prominent businessmen and politicians. Jones videotaped the “Cremation of Care” ceremony that took place and presented it as part of some elite conspiracy only available through him on DVD. Former director of Project Censored, Sonoma State Sociology Professor, and an expert on what C. Wright Mills called the “power elite,” Dr. Peter Phillips had seen the ceremony while researching his dissertation (which was about the San Francisco Bohemian Club and events at the Bohemian Grove) and concluded that Jones egregiously misrepresented the ceremony. Phillips took issue with Jones for claiming that the ceremony was “some kind of cult human sacrifice” where the screaming voice of dying people were echoed through loud speakers.73 Phillips argued that Jones was pandering to online theories to sell his DVD, and that his claims were unfounded. In fact, Jones had been invited into the Grove with Phillips to observe, but chose to sneak in for a more theatrical and dramatic approach to set up his video.74 Nonetheless, Jones profited from the hype with the DVD Dark Secrets Inside Bohemian Grove—The Order of Death, released in 2001.75

Jones continued to profit from his sale of consumer goods at the expense of other researchers. Jones’ false flag 9/11 reporting led him to profit from a book and fourteen DVDs between 2001 and 2008.76 Jones sold six DVDs from 2008 through 2012 focusing on the coming Obama crackdown.77 Former employee of the Alex Jones Show and current radio host Jack Blood has criticized Jones for being profit driven and accused him of holding pre-determined conclusions that are unaltered by evidence. Blood was the former fill-in host for Jones on The Alex Jones Show. Blood explained that Jones charged high prices to advertise young filmmakers’ work and gave them about $.50 profit for each of their DVDs while he took a much larger portion for himself. Blood claimed that Jones sold self-autographed DVDs that were actually forged by his staff.78

Jones eventually expanded from radio into television and Hollywood. Jeff Bercovici, from Forbes wrote of Jones, “For a dude who believes virtually every powerful institution is a tool of an evil conspiracy, he’s surprisingly keen on Hollywood.” Jones is friends with Charlie Sheen of “Two and a Half Men” notoriety and director Richard Linklater, who featured him a in two of films, A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life.79 Jones is a consultant to Jesse Ventura’s TruTVshow, Conspiracy Theories.80 He is broadcast by GCN (Genesis Communications Network) an affiliate of ABC, making him a corporate media connected pundit.81 Bercovici argued that “Jones operates under this same corporate media for profit structure” as radio personalities Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. However, Jones attacks them both constantly because they are competitors “whom he accuses of stealing his theories and presenting them as [their] own….”82

The Echo Chamber of Establishment-Sanctioned Anti-Establishment Propaganda

 

Jones portrays himself and his work as standing outside of the mainstream, which is a crucial aspect of its popular appeal. University of California history professor Kathryn Olmstead argues that, once the size of US Government expanded during World War I and real government conspiracies were exposed, a culture of distrust in government flourished, leading to the peddling of more conspiracies.83 Similarly, senior lecturer in American Studies at the University of Manchester, Peter Knight, argues that Americans distrust the narratives provided by those in power—even when those narratives faithfully represent what really happened.84 Indeed, a 2012 Gallup Poll found that 60% of Americans do not trust television news—the highest figure yet recorded.85 Jones capitalizes on distrust and constructs narratives outside the mainstream despite lacking the evidence to prove his conclusions.86 Jonathan Kay argued that Jones’ behavior is dangerous because it divides American politics without evidence, making it nearly impossible for academics, journalists, and researchers to bridge the divide because of the systematic distrust.87

Despite his self-styled “outsider,” anti-establishment persona, Jones has become increasingly prominent in corporate media over the last decade. Jones was welcomed into the mainstream for his 9/11 claims. CNN’s Showbiz Tonight featured him on two episodes in March 2006 to discuss his views on 9/11.88 During his appearance Jones claimed credit for predicting 9/11. He said “Listen, for years Hollywood`s been on fire with people knowing the truth about 9/11. And I was the first to expose 9/11 on the day. In fact two months before I had intel that elements of the military industrial complex were going to carry out the attack.”89

As the corporate press increasingly relies on Internet sources for stories, Jones’ reports have become gradually more prominent. For instance, Matt Drudge, creator of the conservative website The Drudge Report, recently endorsed Jones via Twitter, calling 2013 the “Year of Alex Jones” and referring to Jones’ radio show as “one hell of a broadcast”90 Drudge has 32 million daily visitors and “often sets the news cycle” on television.91 In the first five months of 2013, fifty pieces of Jones’ work appeared on The Drudge Report, including one claiming that the US gave the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez cancer.92 The media watchdog group Media Matters observed that, “Drudge has been consistently linking to Jones’ site for years.” From April 2011 to April 2013, Drudge published 244 Infowars articles. The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), an investigative reporting nonprofit, found that Drudge and his Jones linked articles are used as a “reference for news material on Limbaugh’s, Sean Hannity’s, and Mark Levin’s radio shows…[and] a source of topics for [Michael] Savage’s rants…”93 Indeed, the work of Alex Jones seemingly has its own echo chamber.

The reliance of the corporate media on Jones’ links has led to politicians literally being informed on particular matters by Jones. On April 15, 2013, at the Boston Marathon, two pressure cooker bombs exploded killing 3 people and injuring 264.94 Within hours of the bombing Jones tweeted “this thing stinks to high heaven #falseflag.”95 Jones claimed that the FBI was behind the attack and that they possibly did it because of a drop in price of gold.96 Later The Inquisitor out of Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana reported that Jones concluded “the true intention [of the attack] is to expand the Transportation Security Administration’s reach to sporting events.”97InfoWars had a reporter in Boston at the press conferences asking for proof the bombing was not a “false flag.”98 New Hampshire state representative Stella Tremblay (R) wrote on Glenn Beck’s Facebook page that she endorsed Jones’ theory about the government’s involvement in the Boston Bombing. She wrote, “Are you that blind that you’re not willing to ask questions of your government?”99 If it is blindness Tremblay was concerned with, then perhaps she should have looked at whom she was citing, and sought what evidence Jones actually provided beyond speculation. Of course, people should ask questions of government and other societal institutions. But they should also question news and information sources and hold them to basic journalistic standards by demanding evidence be clearly shown for claims, and employ critical thinking skills, not jump to conclusions. Tremblay resigned from office for reasons relating to this issue in June of 2013.

There is a War on Your Focus

 

Jones’ access to the mainstream media has resulted in the focus of controversial subjects moving from informed debate to Jones and his speculative, oft rant-like narratives. In 2013, the debate surrounding gun control erupted after the December 14, 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut where Adam Lanza killed twenty-six people.100 Jones was at the center of the debate in the corporate press fighting against gun control laws. Jones concluded that the government staged the shooting and that any gun control laws were an attempt by elites to control citizens.101

Jones supported a petition to the White House to deport CNN host Piers Morgan after Morgan supported gun control. By January 8, 2013, 106,000 US citizens signed a petition,102 that read in part: “British Citizen and CNN television host Piers Morgan is engaged in a hostile attack against the U.S. Constitution by targeting the Second Amendment…We demand that Mr. Morgan be deported immediately….”103 As in the Y2K scenario, Jones trumped up panic to support the NRA message arguing that “globalism and the megabanks that control the planet…they’ve taken everybody’s guns but the Swiss and the American people, and when they get our guns they can have world tyranny.”104 Jones’ advocacy of a petition to the US government may seem odd given his longstanding suspicion of that very same government. Though he has blamed the government for events from the Lusitania to 9/11, in this case he turned to that very same government to deport Morgan, whom he accused of supporting the government’s elite agenda.105

Jones appeared on Morgan’s CNN program where he reveled in his corporate media invitation and he shifted the focus from guns to himself. Jones spoke loudly and interrupted Morgan frequently and feverishly, refusing to answer questions and tossing insults at Morgan calling him a “hatchet man of the new world order.” In what can only be seen as a sensationalist tactic, Jones even challenged Morgan to a boxing match.106 This bizarre challenge from Jones came as Morgan dug for his guest to answer simple questions about the petition and the philosophy behind it. Jones sputtered off facts that could have made a counter-argument to gun legislation had they been organized and explained in a sensible and coherent manner. Instead, Jones went childish, spouting, “I can do a British accent as well” and proceeded to finish the interview imitating Morgan’s accent. Morgan later said of the Jones’ interview “It was startling, it was terrifying in parts, it was completely deluded. It was based on a premise of making Americans so fearful that they all rush out to buy even more guns…”107 Jones’ appearance earned him a profile in Forbes as he became the focus of the gun control story in numerous news outlets in January of 2013.108

In the hour following the interview, Jones went to the Internet in an attempt to establish his appearance on the show and especially his personal confrontation with Morgan as the predominant frame, thus distracting the audience from the more significant gun control debate. Jones then posted a 12-minute video online to make himself look like a hero who shook up the establishment at CNN in New York. For example, he compared himself to George Washington, who also came to New York against “fifteen to one odds.”109 Jones then spoke to the government in the camera “You may have domesticated people in New York City, but you do not have people in the heartland across this country…we are wise to you.”110 Then his voice grew more agitated, noting, “…you have not physically conquered us yet.”111 Then with an effort to boost ratings for the following day he closed with a cheerful voice, “Tomorrow, I should be back for the radio show…we are here in the middle of a mafia run syndicate….this could be the last video we put out.”112 His followers– just like in a 1960s TV episode of Batman– were encouraged to tune into the next episode of his show to find out what happened to Jones in New York.

Following the video and appearance the corporate press focused on Morgan and Jones’ feud rather than the gun control debate that had started it. On his show the following Tuesday, Jones said “I give myself about an ‘A’.” He claimed that “95% of people thought I just told it like it was, slammed him in the face” although he offered no proof for that number.113 He attempted to boost his ratings by confronting Morgan while Morgan broadcast his show live from a gun store in Texas.114 CNN directors ordered Jones and his cameraman outside, prompting Jones to respond, “You’re scared to have me back on.” Jones then proceeded to lead a protest outside the building.115 Jones claimed that Morgan was connected to the CIA and Obama.116 Morgan tweeted “Rather large protest growing outside…Feels slightly tyrannical, ironically.”117 Jones’ actions helped to shift the media’s focus from the gun control movement to his feud with Morgan.

The Jones Effect: Undermining Legitimate Research

 

The result of Jones making himself the focus of movements dealing with controversial subjects is comparable to the goals of government infiltration programs. For decades, the US government has planned to undermine activist groups through infiltration and disruption. For example, Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall documented how the FBI began its COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) to infiltrate and discredit political groups through radicalization and infiltration.118 Similarly, Tim Weiner documented how COINTELPRO, which began in 1956, was in fact the culmination of infiltration methods used by the FBI since 1908. Its original focus was to infiltrate the Communist Party of the US to “increase factionalism, cause disruption and win defections.”119 They employed tactics such as monitoring phone calls, conducting IRS audits, and falsifying documents.120 Through COINTELPRO the FBI later infiltrated civil rights and peace movements including Martin Luther King, Jr., the Black Panther Party, and anti-Vietnam War protests to note just a few.121 Contemporary government agencies continue to use the same infiltration programs and tactics against Occupy Wall St. and animal rights groups among others.122

Jones could be accused of “cognitive infiltration” in so-called truth movements by radicalizing people, inciting violence, and causing division, once he enters the topical picture.123 The events of 9/11 best illustrate how Jones’ bombastic behavior undermines legitimate evidence-based research movements. The 9/11 Truth Movement began after twelve relatives of 9/11 victims found the government’s official findings in The 9/11 Commission Report inadequate and misleading.124 The movement expanded to include many groups with various theories that collectively challenged the report’s validity.125 Over one hundred professors in the US have documented evidence-based problems with the government’s report.126 Many are involved in Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice who describe themselves as “a group of scholars and supporters endeavoring to address the unanswered questions of the September 11, 2001 attack through scientific research and public education.” 127 Their webpage analyzes the strengths and weaknesses concerning the evidence and lacking evidence of all 9/11 theories both official and alternative. They conclude that no theory provides a100% accurate understanding of what happened on 9/11.128

Jones’ involvement in the 9/11 Truth Movement has undermined legitimate 9/11 research as his claims regarding the topic (that the US government orchestrated the attacks) have been mostly speculative and unsubstantiated, and Jones is oft the source used when critics try to debunk the 9/11 Truth Movement. Jones’ reach via media catapults him into the public eye far more than other scholars that have been researching and meticulously documenting the events of 9/11 and the many factual problems associated with the government’s official reports. Jones became the mainstream face of the 9/11 Truth Movement, despite others in the very same movement who questioned Jones’ position and the evidence for it.129 Jones’ continuous radicalization eclipsed many in the 9/11 Truth Movement who disagreed with him. Jones has been known to physically take the spotlight from other protesters. In one case, he interrupted a protest with a bullhorn drowning out the people he claimed to support.130 Jake Blood explained that Jones does not allow for any diversion from his conclusions especially regarding 9/11.131 Those who did not agree with Jones, like Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina, were attacked by Jones and his followers. The result was Jones’ dismissal of those who disagree with him, unfortunately including actual evidence-based researchers.132

The corporate press has ignored most evidence-based researchers’ conclusions about 9/11 by falsely identifying anyone in the 9/11 Truth Movement with Jones and his unproven, sensationalist claims. Thus, following the 2013 Boston Bombing, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow argued that the 9/11 Commission Report and the Popular Mechanics volume titled “Debunking 9/11 Myths” refuted “9/11 truther” theories. She argued that contrary evidence had failed to dissuade advocates of continued 9/11 investigation because those beliefs are “too ideologically and, I think, emotionally satisfying to the people who espouse them.” She then attributed claims linking the Aurora, Colorado theatre shooting; the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut; and the Boston Marathon bombing as false flag operations to Alex Jones and his Internet radio show Infowars and Prison Planet website, thus making Jones the public face for all “conspiracy theories.”133 Reports like Maddow’s falsely associate the legitimate research of groups like Scholars for 9/11Truth & Justice with Jones’ factless speculation.134 This classic straw person fallacy makes for good propaganda against those who actually research and factually support their claims about controversial issues.

The ability of the corporate press to undermine the message of the 9/11 Truth Movement, one that questions official reports, by associating it with Jones results in part from tactics used by COINTELPRO and the CIA during the Cold War. Historically, the corporate media has lumped factual and speculative theories together under the set phrase of “conspiracy theory.”135 As scholar Lance deHaven-Smith has documented, the CIA coined the term “conspiracy theory” in the 1960s to undermine groups that challenged the government’s official narratives regarding controversial events. For example, the government designed “a global propaganda program to attack critics of the Warren Commission [The government’s account of the JFK assassination].”136 He argued that the CIA, through programs like Operation Mockingbird, had media outlets and journalists label those who challenged official historical narratives as “conspiracy theorists” which resulted in the media presenting all “conspiracies as discredited despite real conspiracies like Watergate existing.”137

The corporate media’s continuous claims that any questioning of the official 9/11 narrative put forth by the US government is tantamount to Jones’ speculative and unproven claims has led to self censorship. For 37 years, the student, faculty, and community-based Project Censored (PC) has reported on media censorship in the US. They release an annual book focused on censored news stories and news abuses by the corporate media. PC encountered its own censorship surrounding 9/11research when they reported on some of the unanswered questions surrounding the events of 9/11, in hopes of promoting further investigation. History professor and Project Censored director Mickey Huff explained, “We do not use speculative theory as a research method at PC. We think it is the role of the press to give factual information, ask tough questions, and find answers based on the known evidence, which is different than what Jones often does.”138

PC lost some financial and institutional support for its reports on the unanswered questions relating to 9/11 once Jones became the mainstream face of 9/11 research. Professor Robert Jensen and journalist Norman Solomon resigned from PC’s national judges board over PC’s 9/11 reporting. Several other people and organizations on the liberal/left end of the spectrum were increasingly divided over 9/11 issues. Even though PC has covered nearly a thousand stories and a wide array of topics since 1976, and is essentially an academic organization, they have been attacked as “9/11 conspiracy theorists” not only by more mainstream and/or corporate journalists, but also by media researchers, even though PC has covered only a few 9/11 related stories, and then, only after they were vetted.139

It seems that those who report on government propaganda in a throng of other incidences refuse to do the same with 9/11 in part because of involvement by people like Jones who make unfounded claims a centerpiece of any mention of the subject. But again, not all research and stories about 9/11 are equal. Some are actually supported by evidence, especially those looking into the many conflicts of interest and evidence suppression incidences associated with the 9/11 Commission and subsequent report.

Conclusion: The Truth is Out There, But it is Likely Not on Prison Planet

 

Alex Jones has built a minor media empire, and an increasingly prominent mainstream persona, on unfulfilled predictions and the distortion of evidence. Despite his failed predictions and hyperbolic claims, Jones continues to influence the corporate press.140 Whether he does it for personal profit, on behalf of a government program like COINTELPRO, or—as some critics have charged—in service of Startfor, a private intelligence company is ultimately of secondary importance.141 What matters most is that as a self-promoter with corporate media connections, Jones and his speculative reporting undermine the legitimate, evidence-based work of others who address the same controversial news stories. Dr. Peter Phillips argues that when Jones is involved in a movement the “defacto result is undermining legitimate research of government conspiracies, because Jones takes them to a radical extreme.”142 Mickey Huff argued that Jones fits the model of what the CIA and FBI wanted in the 1960s, if even unwittingly, which is creating someone who can “undermine legitimate researchers and political movements by fomenting distrust of those working in similar circles while sowing seeds of doubt in the public about alternative narratives to official accounts concerning controversial issues. Even if Jones is only out for himself, COINTELPRO couldn’t have created a better diversion from and disruptor for actual scholarly, factually supported research about state crimes against democracy and those who conduct it.”143

At least since William Miller and his Adventist divination, many people have posed as prophets—whether religious or secular—selling Americans prophecies that play on their most fundamental fears for private gain. Alex Jones is among the latest, and currently most influential, of these people. Those among the increasingly large audience who follow Jones and his claims should be alerted that, rather than warning of and protecting against the “war on your mind,” his broadcasts and publications are part and parcel of those battles. Like those before him, Jones profits on the American peoples’ fears; unlike Miller and others of his predecessors, he does so in an age of social media and corporate news, with the result being that his distorted perspective discredits genuine journalism and systemic research aimed at addressing the very fears that Jones perpetuates and by which he profits. The truth is out there, but it is based on facts and transparent sources, not faux elixirs and sensationalist claims peddled by a digital snake oil salesman who needs a war on your mind for his own financial well-being.

Special thanks go to Mickey Huff, Andy Lee Roth, and Peter Phillips for consultation, editing, and other assistance with this piece. Others declined to be interviewed for fear of retribution by Jones. I appreciate those who were willing to go on record candidly about Jones and his impact on social and political movements.

Notes

1Richard L. Rogers, “Millennialism and American Culture: The Adventist Movement,”Comparative Social Research. January 13, 1991, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.researchgate.net/publication/235687708_Millennialism_and_American_culture_The_Adventist_movement_1831-1851.

2 “In Defense of Alex Jones,” January 9, 2013. http://nothingtonpost.blogspot.com/2013/01/in-defense-of-alex-jones.html.  Showbiz Tonight. Written by Robert Melstein. CNN. March 23-24, 2006. Piers Morgan Tonight. Hosted by Piers Morgan. CNN. January 07, 2013.

3 The terms “Truth Movement” or “truth movements” have been used in different contexts with varying connotations. On one hand, the term is embraced by those who are seeking the fact-based reality to explain historical and current events. On another, it is used pejoratively to cast such parties as paranoid, “conspiratorial,” delusional.  In this article, I use the term in the former sense, with respect to those who seek understanding, not hype or ratings, and to those who are bound by evidence for their claims, not speculation. One of the main theses of this piece is that Alex Jones is one of the main reasons the term “truth movement” has become a pejorative one, ripe for dismissal and ridicule, which does a disservice to open discourse and poisons the potential for rational discussion of controversial issues.

4 “Alex Jones,” Infowars. accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.infowars.com/about-alex-jones. Lee Nichols, “Psst, It’s a Conspiracy: KJFK Gives Alex Jones the Boot Media Clips.” The Austin Chronicle, December 10, 1999, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/1999-12-10/75039/.

5 Alexander Zaitchik. “Meet Alex Jones, the Talk Radio Host Behind Charlie Sheen’s Crazy Rants,” Rolling Stone, March 2, 2011, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/talk-radios-alex-jones-the-most-paranoid-man-in-america-20110302.  Jeremy Stahl,  “Where Did 9/11 Conspiracies Come From?” Slate, September 6, 2011, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/trutherism/2011/09/where_did_911_conspiracies_come_from.html.

6 Infowars. http://www.infowars.com. Prison Plant. http://www.prisonplanet.com/

7 Alex Seitz-Wald, “Newtown truthers: Where conspiracy theories come from,” January 16, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.salon.com/2013/01/16/newtown_truthers_where_conspiracy_theories_come_from. Free Speech Systems LLC: Web Media Kit. Infowars. accessed September 09, 2013, http://static.infowars.com/ads/mediakit_public.pdf

8 Justin Sturken And Mary Dore, “Remembering the Waco Siege,” February 28, 2007, accessed September 09, 2013, http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=2908955&page=1#.UW74xspXTQ4

9Jonathan Kay. Among The Truthers: A Journey Through America’s Growing Conspiracist Underground. (New York, New York: Harper Collins, 2011.), 16-19. Suggested Readings with similar claims: David B. Kopel and Paul H. Blackman. No More Wacos: What’s Wrong With Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It (Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 1997). James R. Lewis. From the Ashes: Making Sense of Waco (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman& Littlefield, 1994). Carol Moore. The Davidian Massacre: Disturbing Questions Abut Waco Which Must Be Answered. (Virginia: Gun Owners Foundation, 1995). Dick J. Reavis. The Ashes of Waco: An Investigation (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995). Mike McNulty produced and wrote three films to document evidence contrary to the official report: The F.L.I.R Project (2001) ), Waco: A New Revelation (1999), and Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997).

10“Victims of the Oklahoma City bombing,” USA Today, June 20, 2001, accessed September 09, 2013, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001-06-11-mcveigh-victims.htm. An evidence based account of problems with the original government conclusions are documented in : A Noble Lie: Oklahoma City Bombing: Murrah Federal Building 1995. Directed by James Lane. Produced by Holland Vandennieuwenhof, Chris Emery, Wendy Painting.  2011. DVD. Matt Dineen, “From Baghdad to Terre Haute: Gulf War Veterans & the American Cycle of Violence,” Upside Down World, March 25, 2004, accessed September 09, 2013, http://upsidedownworld.org/Dineen.htm. “Killings As Collateral Damage: What the U.S. Military and Gulf War Vet Timothy Mcveigh Havein Common,” Democracy Now!, April 10, 2001, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.democracynow.org/2001/4/10/killings_as_collateral_damage_what_the.

11 “Alex Jones,” Infowars. Kay, 16-19.  Sharlene Shappart, “Alex Jones,” Wizards of Arizona, May 4, 2001, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.wizardsofaz.com/waco/waco5a.html.

12“Alex Jones,” Infowars.

13 Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones. “Why The Elite Would Lose a Civil War,” May 4, 2001, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.infowars.com/why-the-elite-would-lose-a-civil-war/

14 Jeremy Stahl, “Why Trutherism Lives On: The 9/11 conspiracy movement has faded, but the conspiracy theory will never die,” September 09, 2001, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/trutherism/2011/09/why_trutherism_lives_on.html.

15 Mark Potok, “The Year in Hate and Extremism Intelligence Report,” Southern Poverty Law Center, Spring 2013, accessed September 09, 2013,  

http://www.splcenter.org/home/2013/spring/the-year-in-hate-and-extremism

16Michael Shermer. “Conspiracy Contradictions,” The Work of Michael Shermer, September 2012, accessed September 09, 2013,  

http://www.michaelshermer.com/2012/09/conspiracy-contradictions/

17 Dean Walker, “Alex Jones and Antigovernment “Patriot” Groups,” March 13, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013,  http://deanwalker.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/alex-jones-and-antigovernment-patriot-groups.

18Alex Seitz-Wald, “Alex Jones: Gay marriage truther? 

The conspiracy theorist said the government is turning people gay through chemical warfare,” June 27, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/that_time_alex_jones_said_the_government_is_turning_people_gay/

19Jason Linkins, “You Just KNEW There Would Be ‘Tornado Truthers,’ Didn’t You?,” May 23, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013,

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2013/05/22/alex-jones-tornado-truthers_n_3321704.html?icid=hp_front_top_art. While there are technologies that can impact weather patterns, Jones offered no actual proof such was the case in this instance. See http://www.projectcensored.org/9-government-sponsored-technologies-for-weather-modification/

20 Jeremy Stahl, “Why Trutherism Lives On,”

21 “Alex Jones,” Rational Wiki, September 9, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alex_Jones

22 Tim Hjersted, “New World Order or Business as Usual? — An Open Letter to Supporters of Infowars and Alex Jones,” Films For Action. accessed September 17, 2013, http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/an_open_letter_to_supporters_of_infowars_and_alex_jones.

23 John Avlon. Wingnuts: How The Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America. (New York, New York, Beast Books, 2010.) 1-10

24 Avlon, 2

25 John Avlon, “‘Armed Mafia Are Stalking Us’—Conspiracy Peddler Alex Jones Melts Down,” The Daily Beast. Jan 8, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013,http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/08/armed-mafia-are-stalking-us-conspiracy-peddler-alex-jones-melts-down.html.

26 Alex Jones Debunked. accessed September 09, 2013, http://alexjonesdebunked.com/

27 Kay, 16-19

28 Kay, 2, 16-19

29 Kay, 113.  Note that, although Kay’s book offers a useful firsthand account of interactions with Alex Jones, Kay’s work also identifies others who research the same subjects as Jones as members of what Kay calls a “post-rationalist, ideological movement.” Conclusions like Kays’ incorrectly associate fact-based research with Jones’ speculative commentary because they share a common topic despite their employing different degrees of evidence.

30 To hear the opening of his daily broadcast or entire shows: “Alex Jones Show Archive,” accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.infowars.com/listen-to-the-radio-show-archive/

31“The Alex Jones Show.” Narrated by Alex Jones. Infowars. February 4 2009 http://www.infowars.com/listen-to-the-radio-show-archive/

32Ibid., February 13, 2009

33Ibid., February 26, 2009

34Ibid., April 2, 2009

35Ibid., June 22, 2009

36Ibid., July 19, 2009

37Ibid., November 10, 2009

38Ibid., February 16, 2010

39Ibid., March 29, 2010

40Ibid., June 15, 2008

41Ibid., February 28, 2010

42Ibid., February 9, 2009. Pastor Lindsey Williams Blog, accessed September 09, 2013,  http://www.lindseywilliams.net/about/ HIS BLOG: http://lindseywilliams101.blogspot.com/

43“The Alex Jones Show.” May 23, 2010

44Ibid., April 14, 2009

45Ibid., December 15, 2010

46Ibid., December 17, 2009

47Inside 9/11 : Zero Hour. Written by Michael Eldridge and Lance Hori. National Geographic Channel, 2005. National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States.

48 Stahl,  “Where Did 9/11 Conspiracies Come From?”

49 Ibid., “9/11 Conspiracy: Alex Jones Predicts 9/11 In July 2001,” Conspiracy Theories and Illuminati, February 21, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://conspiracytheoriesandilluminati.read-the-latest.info/?p=1069.  “FLASHBACK: Alex Jones said 9/11 inside job on the day it happened,” Infowars, September 11, 2001, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.infowars.com/flashback-alex-jones-said-911-inside-job-on-the-day-it-happened.

50Stahl,  “Where Did 9/11 Conspiracies Come From?,” “FLASHBACK: Alex Jones said 9/11 inside job on the day it happened,” Infowars.

51“Alex Jones,” Infowars.

52 Chalmers Johnson. Blowback: The Cost and Consequences of American Empire. (New York: New York, Henry Holt and Company LLC, 2000), 10

53 Kurt Eichenwald, “The Deafness Before the Storm” September 10, 2012,

accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opinion/the-bush-white-house-was-deaf-to-9-11-warnings.html?_r=0

54 Brian Bennett, “Al Qaeda operative key to 1998 U.S. embassy bombings killed in Somalia,” Los Angeles Times, June 12, 2011, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.army.mil/terrorism/1999-1990/index.html

55 Bennett, “Al Qaeda operative key to 1998 U.S. embassy bombings killed in Somalia.” Kevin Ryan, “The USS Cole: Twelve years later, no justice or understanding,” Foreign Policy Journal, October 12, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013,

http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/10/10/the-uss-cole-twelve-years-later-no-justice-or-understanding/

56 “Bombshell – FEMA Camps Confirmed: Nightly News,” Infowars, January 26, 2012, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.infowars.com/bombshell-fema-camps-confirmed-nightly-news/

57 “Disaster Recovery Centers,” FEMA, November 15, 2012, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.fema.gov/disaster-recovery-centers

58 “Bombshell – FEMA Camps Confirmed: Nightly News,”

59 Bill Bowman and Stephen Edelson, “Bitter cold inside a disaster shelter,” Ashbury park Press, November 10, 2012, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.app.com/viewart/20121109/NJNEWS/311090027/Oceanport-sandy-shelter

60 Emphasis added.  “FEMA’s Camp Freedom: Concentration Camp with Blackhawk Helicopters Flying Above,” Infowars, November 10, 2012, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.infowars.com/femas-camp-freedom-concentration-camp-with-blackhawk-helicopters-flying-above/

61 Bowman and Edelson, “Bitter cold inside a disaster shelter,”

62“The Alex Jones Show.” January 27, 2009

63Ibid., Feb 10, 2009

64Ibid., August 2, 2009

65Ibid., March 3, 2010

66Ibid., March 10, 2009

67Ibid., April 15, 2009

68 “Infowars Store.” accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.infowarsshop.com/

69“The Alex Jones Show.” December 31, 1999.

70Ibid.

71Ibid.

72 Ibid. Many of the programs contain advertising by businesses in security related fields, about which Jones reports.

73 “Infowars.Com Exclusive: Bohemian Grove,” Infowars.http://www.infowars.com/bg_story_template.html Personal Interview with Doctor Peter Phillips in Berkeley, CA on February 15, 2013.

74 Phillips Interview February 15, 2013.

75Dark Secrets Inside Bohemian Grove – The Order of Death. Directed by Alex Jones.2001. Color, NTSC, Widescreen.

76 “Alex Jones,” International Movie Database. accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1093953/

77 “Infowars Store.”

78 “Deadline Live,” hosted by Jake Blood. February 24 2010. accessed September 09, 2013, http://deadlinelive.info/2010/02/

79 Stahl, “Why Trutherism Lives On.” Jeff Bercovici, “Who Is Alex Jones, Anyway? Five Fun Factoids,” Forbes. January 9, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/01/09/who-is-alex-jones-anyway-five-fun-factoids/

80 “UPDATE: “Police State” episode of hit Ventura show covering FEMA camps pulled from air,” Infowars. December 3, 2012, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.infowars.com/police-state-episode-of-hit-ventura-show-covering-concentration-camps-pulled-from-air.

81 “Alex Jones is the phenomenon that just keeps growing,” General Communications Network, accessed September 09, 2013, 

http://www.gcnlive.com/programs/alexJones. Victor Thorn & Lisa Guliani, “Genesis Communications Network (the Alex Jones network) is an ABC affiliate,” Free Republic, June 3, 2005, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1813351/posts

82 Jeff Bercovici, “Who Is Alex Jones, Anyway? Five Fun Factoids,”

83 Kathryn Olmsted. Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009, 2011.)

84 Peter Knight. Conspiracy Culture: American Paranoia from the Kennedy Assassination to The X-files. (New York, New York: Routledge, 2001)

85 Lymari Morales, “U.S. Distrust in Media Hits New High: Fewer Americans closely following political news now than in previous election years,” Gallup Politics, September 21, 2012, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.gallup.com/poll/157589/distrust-media-hits-new-high.aspx

86 “Boston Marathon Explosions Conspiracy Theory: Alex Jones Calls Attack ‘False Flag’,”The Inquisitr, April 16, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.inquisitr.com/620716/boston-marathon-explosions-conspiracy-theory-alex-jones-calls-attack-false-flag/

87Kay, xix

88 Showbiz Tonight, March 23-24, 2006.

89 Ibid. “Transcript of Alex Jones Appearance on CNN’s Showbiz Tonight,” CNN, March 23-24, 2006, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/march2006/240306transcript.htm

90 Andrew Kirell, “Matt Drudge Tweets Kind Words For Alex Jones: ‘One Hell Of A Broadcast In Such Homogenized Media’,” Medialite, April 23, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.mediaite.com/online/matt-drudge-tweets-kind-words-for-alex-jones-one-hell-of-a-broadcast-in-such-homogenized-media. David Ferguson, “Maddow slams right-wing mainstreaming of crackpots like Alex Jones,” Raw Story. April 25, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/25/maddow-slams-right-wing-mainstreaming-of-crackpots-like-alex-jones.

91 “Drudge Report Up to Its Old Tricks with Condi,” Examiner, July 13, 2012, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.examiner.com/article/drudge-report-up-to-its-old-tricks-with-condi

92 “How Matt Drudge Serves As Alex Jones’ Web Traffic Pipeline, Medialite, April 26, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, 

http://mediamatters.org/print/blog/2013/04/26/how-matt-drudge-serves-as-alex-jones-web-traffi/193780

93 “Matt Drudge,” Source Watch. accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Matt_Drudge

94 Deborah Kotz. “Injury toll from Marathon bombs reduced to 264,” The Boston Globe. April 24, 2013, accessed on September 9, 2013, http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/04/23/number-injured-marathon-bombing-revised-downward/NRpaz5mmvGquP7KMA6XsIK/story.html.

95Alex Seitz-Wald, “Alex Jones: Boston explosion a government conspiracy ,” Salon. April 15, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.salon.com/2013/04/15/alex_jones_labels_boston_explosion_a_false_flag/

96Seitz-Wald, “Alex Jones: Boston explosion a government conspiracy ,”

97 “Boston Marathon Explosions Conspiracy Theory: Alex Jones Calls Attack ‘False Flag’,”

98David Weigel, “Tamerlan Tsarnaev Believed in Basically Every Conspiracy Theory,” Slate.April 23, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/04/23/tamerlan_tsarnaev_believed_in_basically_every_conspiracy_theory.html

99 Ferguson, “Maddow slams right-wing mainstreaming of crackpots like Alex Jones.”

100 Craig Brown and Jon Queally, “Slaughter in Connecticut: 20 Children, 6 Adults Dead in Kindergarten Massacre,”

Common Dreams, December 14, 2012, accessed September 09, 2013, https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/12/14-1

101 “Stooge Alex Jones Says Newtown, CT Sandy Hook School Shooting Was Staged,”Alex Jones Debunked, January 28, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://alexjonesdebunked.com/2013/01/28/stooge-alex-jones-says-newtown-ct-sandy-hook-school-shooting-was-staged. “Special Report: Why People Think Sandy Hook is A Hoax,” January 27, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013,

http://www.infowars.com/why-people-think-sandy-hook-is-a-hoax/

102 Eric Kelsey and Piya Sinha-Roy, “Thousands sign U.S. petition to deport Piers Morgan over gun comments,” Reuters, December 24, 2012, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/24/entertainment-us-piersmorgan-petition-idUSBRE8BN0M920121224

103Peter Grier, “Piers Morgan vs. Alex Jones on gun control: Who won wild debate?,”Christian Science Monitor, January 8, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/Vox-News/2013/0108/Piers-Morgan-vs.-Alex-Jones-on-gun-control-Who-won-wild-debate

104 Ibid.

105 Ibid.

106 “Gun advocate Alex Jones, of petition to deport Piers Morgan, freaks out on CNN,”Toronto Sun. January 8, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.torontosun.com/2013/01/08/gun-advocate-alex-jones-of-petition-to-deport-piers-morgan-freaks-out-on-cnn

107 “Piers Morgan: Alex Jones ‘Terrifying,’ A Perfect ‘Advertisement For Gun Control’,” The Huffington Post, January 9, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/piers-morgan-alex-jones-gun-control_n_2438963.html?icid=hp_front_popular_art

108 Ibid., Bercovici, “Who Is Alex Jones, Anyway.” Grier, “Piers Morgan vs. Alex Jones on gun control.”

109 Ibid.

110 Ibid.

111 Ibid.

112 Ibid.

113 Jeff Bercovici, “Alex Jones Spins ‘Piers Morgan’ Appearance: ‘I Don’t Respect That Show’,” Forbes, January 8, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/01/08/alex-jones-spins-piers-morgan-appearance-i-dont-respect-that-show/

114Paul Joseph Watson, “VIDEO: Alex Jones Confronts Piers Morgan At Gun Range,”Infowars, February 5, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.infowars.com/video-alex-jones-confronts-piers-morgan-at-gun-range/

115 Ibid.

116 Bercovici, “Alex Jones Spins ‘Piers Morgan’ Appearance.”

117 Watson, “VIDEO: Alex Jones Confronts Piers Morgan At Gun Range.”

118Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall. The COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI’s Secret Wars Against Domestic Dissent. (Boston: South End Press, 1990.)

119 Tim Weiner, Enemies: A History of the FBI (New York: Random House, 2012), 195-196.

120 Ibid.

121 Ibid.,198, 235-236. Seth Rosenfeld. Subversives: The FBI’s War on Student Radicals, and Reagan’s Rise to Power.(New York, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012.)

122 See, for example,  David Ray Griffin, Cognitive Infiltration: An Obama Appointee’s Plan to Undermine The 9/11 Conspiracy Theory (Northhampton, MA: Olive Branch Press, 2011), ix-xii, 124.146.

123“Alex Jones is an Inside Job.”The Atlantean Conspiracy. accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.atlanteanconspiracy.com/2010/07/alex-jones-exposed.html

124The Family Steering Committee For The 9/11 Independent Commission Report.accessed September 09, 2013, 

http://www.911independentcommission.org/members.html. National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H. Kean, and Lee Hamilton. 2004. The 9/11 Commission report: final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. [Washington, D.C.]: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States.

125 Alan Feuer, “500 Conspiracy Buffs Meet to Seek the Truth of 9/11,” New York Times, May 4, 2009, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/05/us/05conspiracy.html. “Citizens Petition New York Attorney General to Open 9-11 Inquiry,” Environment News Service, October 29, 2004, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2004/2004-10-29-06.asp. Jefferson Siegel, “‘Pentagon Papers senator’ calls for new 9/11 probe,” The Villager, Volume 78 / Number 3, June 18 – 24, 2008, accessed September 09, 2013, http://thevillager.com/villager_268/pentagonpapers.html. Sonny Bunch. “The Truthers Are Out There,” The Weekly Standard, September 24, 2007, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/113zubvo.asp. Molé, Phil, “9/11 Conspiracy Theories: The 9/11 Truth Movement Perspective,” Skeptic12, June 6, 2009, accessed September 09, 2013.

126 “9/11 Commission Report Questioned by Over 100 Professors,” Want To Know, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.wanttoknow.info/070618professorsquestion911.

127 Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice, accessed September 09, 2013, http://stj911.org.

128 Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice.

129 Ibid. “FLASHBACK: Alex Jones said 9/11 inside job on the day it happened.”

130 Jones is documented via Youtube video interrupting a protest by using a bullhorn to drown out the very speakers he claims to support. “Alex Jones is an Inside Job.”

131“Deadline Live,” February 24 2010.

132 Ibid.

133 Ferguson, “Maddow slams right-wing mainstreaming of crackpots like Alex Jones,”

134 Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice,

135Thom Patterson, “Conspiracy theories, outrage swirl around TWA 800 plane crash,” June 20, 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/20/us/twa-800-documentary-debate. “MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show: Crackpot Conspiracy Theories Enjoy Mainstreaming by Right,” 9/11 Blogger, April 26, 2013

accessed September 09, 2013, http://911blogger.com/news/2013-04-26/msnbc-rachel-maddow-show-crackpot-conspiracy-theories-enjoy-mainstreaming-right.

136Lance deHaven-Smith.  Conspiracy Theory in America. (Austin, Texas: Univ. of Texas, 2013). The Warren Commission refers to the US Federal Government approved group that wrote the official government report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

137 Ibid. Lance deHaven-Smith, “Conspiracy Denial in the U.S. Media,” Journal of 9/11 Studies, March 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.journalof911studies.com/resources/2013LettersAprilde-HavenSmith.pdf. See also, James F. Tracy, “Diffusing Conspiracy Panics,” Censored 2014: Fearless Speech in Fateful Times, ed. Mickey Huff and Andy Lee Roth (New York: Seven Stories, 2013) 271-86.

138 Personal Interview done with Mickey Huff.

139 C. D. Stelzer, “Over the line: Two judges quit Project Censored to protest 9/11 story,”Illinois Times, June 27,2007 accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-4202-over-the-line.html.

140John H. Richardson, “Alex Jones: Father Knows Best, Updated for the Apocalypse,”Esquire, August 2013, accessed September 09, 2013, http://www.esquire.com/features/alex-jones-interview-0913 AND http://www.infowars.com/esquire-publishes-shockingly-fair-profile-of-alex-jones/

141 On allegations of Jones’ connections to Stratfor, see, for example, “Is Alex Jones a STRATFOR Double Agent?” Truther, February 12, 2013, accessed Septermber 9, 2013, http://truthernews.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/alex-jones-exposed-as-stratfor-double-agent/.

Jones’ unremitting deflation of legitimate movements has not gone unnoticed and has put him at the center of an speculative Internet conspiracy. Bloggers argue that Jones works for a global intelligence company: Strategic Forecasting (Stratfor). Stratfor provides intelligence gathering for over 2,500 news outlets. Their goal is to “reduce risks and identify opportunities in every region of the globe.” The Stratfor conspiracy appears to have had some impact on Jones. On February 12, 2012, bloggers reported that Jones was a Stratfor double agent. Three days later, Jones abruptly canceled his nationwide speaking tour because “the collapse is so imminent,” although once again an “imminent collapse” predicted by Jones did not take place. Although the evidence connecting Jones to Stratfor is speculative at best, it is important because it raises questions about where Jones gets his money, information, and ties to celebrities and intelligence insiders. However, because it is speculative at this point, it was not included in this article.